{"id":20076477,"date":"2021-07-22T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-22T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=76477"},"modified":"2021-08-18T00:09:44","modified_gmt":"2021-08-17T18:39:44","slug":"water-supply-pakistan-sindh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/water-supply-pakistan-sindh\/","title":{"rendered":"In remote Pakistan villages, access to water no guarantee of safety"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Gulan Allah Baksh can share plenty of reasons for why life is tough in Rato Khan Rind, a village in Pakistan\u2019s coastal belt, just 7 kilometres from the Arabian Sea. \u201cWe have no gas, no […] roads, no employment,\u201d she told The Third Pole<\/a>. But water problems top the list. \u201cEither there is way too much water or there is a drought-like situation,\u201d she said. In either case, crops suffer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the whole story<\/p>

This is the first of two stories investigating the quality of coastal communities\u2019 drinking water. Read our investigation from Bangladesh here<\/a>.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The village is in Sindh province\u2019s Thatta district, about 80 km from the port city of Karachi. A huge canal, locally called the saim nala<\/em> (a sub-drain that collects saline water, agricultural effluent and floodwater, draining it into the Arabian Sea) runs along the village. Using a network of thick black rubber pipes which snake to their homes, the villagers try to draw out the saline water with the help of diesel-run motors. \u201cDuring the rainy season, the canal overflows and the water reaches up to our homes,\u201d said Baksh\u2019s 21-year-old daughter-in-law, Malda Barkat. There are days when the water reaches up to her waist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inconsistent supply of water has been a reality for over a decade now, forcing men from the village to leave farming and find alternative livelihoods in towns and cities. Barkat\u2019s father, Mohammad Yunas, gave up growing tomatoes, pumpkins, rice and wheat. He now works in Karachi\u2019s fisheries. Ilm Din, a local activist, recently found work at a multinational company. \u201cI don\u2019t want to put money into doing agriculture, there is too much uncertainty,\u201d Yunas said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pakistan<\/div>
A donkey cart being prepared\u00a0to fetch water for Barkat\u2019s family in Rato Khan Rind, in Thatta district of Sindh (Image: Zofeen Ebrahim)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Perween Akbar and one of her four daughters walk to a nearby pond to fetch water. They can carry 30 litres on their heads at a time, which means they must make four trips to meet the daily needs of their household. This water is precious and used frugally for \u201cdrinking, washing clothes and utensils, cooking and bathing\u201d she said. Carrying it gives her \u201cchronic pain\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy head, hair, neck and back hurt all the time,\u201d Akbar told The Third Pole.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barkat\u2019s family of 14 owns a donkey cart, which means the women do not have to carry the water. She said they are rarely able to carry Akbar\u2019s or any other woman\u2019s canisters as there is little space left in the cart. \u201cWe are dying of thirst,\u201d said Barkat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not fit for drinking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Not only is the water scarce, what is available is unfit for drinking or bathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Third Pole collected three water samples from three locations in Rato Khan Rind village. These samples were tested at the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources<\/a> (PCRWR) laboratory in Karachi. The results showed that the samples were unfit for drinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rato<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Although they do not boil the water before drinking it, the villagers insist they do not suffer from any illness due to consuming this water. \u201cI am healthy,\u201d Akbar said, but added that her husband often complains of stomach pain. Diarrhoea was common among children, the villagers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water and health: the close link<\/span>

According to the World Health Organization<\/a>, contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to the transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio. <\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on the sample of water collected from a hand pump in Rato Khan Rind, infectious disease specialist Jamil Muqtadir said: \u201c[There are] inadequate chlorides so capacity to disinfect the water to kill organisms is low. Consumption may cause gastrointestinal diseases, but [it is] not hazardous if used for washing utensils, clothes or bathing. It is not fit for drinking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n